Environmental Conflicts Research Articles

Climate Change and Environmental Conflicts in Nigeria: Focus on Farmer-Herder Crisis in Ebonyi State

Climate Change and Environmental Conflicts in Nigeria: Focus on Farmer-Herder Crisis in Ebonyi State

Books Briefly

Books Briefly

Rural Consciousness and Framing Environmental (In)Justice

Both rural regions and urban communities of color are often the target for unwanted land uses in the United States. However, although both types of communities will often organize resistance to the siting of environmentally hazardous facilities within their region, the frames that the activists use may differ dramatically. In this study, we examine a case study of environmental conflict over a proposed industrial hog farm in northern Wisconsin. We use that conflict to explore the claims making and rhetoric employed by the rural, predominantly white resistance. We argue that although communities of color and urban communities tend to utilize the environmental justice frame to understand and represent their resistance to unwanted land uses, rural communities that are predominantly white may instead frame their own resistance as a defense of rural identity and place. This study makes important contributions to our understanding of rural ideology and the environmental justice movement.

Тренды институционализации общественного участия в Казахстане для устойчивого развития

Experience shows that the most acute and intractable conflicts related to the environment arise between private and public interests. The right to use resources becomes the cause of environmental conflicts. The decisive role of conflict resolution belongs to local authorities, which mediate between participants with different social and economic interests. Consideration of ecosystem services in the process of decision-making by the authorities and understanding of the distribution of costs and benefits associated with the conservation of nature helps to avoid and prevent conflict. The purpose of this article is to examine the prerequisites for the formation and development of the environmental protest movement, caused by the lack of proper communication between the authorities and the public around issues related to urban landscaping. This article examines the chronology of development of factors and mechanisms of public participation on the basis of protest event-analysis, which allows reconstructing the dynamics of civic mobilization and its key characteristics on the basis of various textual sources. It can be confidently claimed that the lack of understanding and the failure of the authorities to take preventive measures will lead to a further escalation of the conflict and its transition into a non-constructive course. The results obtained stress the need and responsibility of government agencies to develop and strengthen the ability of local communities to play an active role in decision-making. Public participation, social partnership increases the number of participants, guaranteeing a new quality of management process in gathering information, identifying priorities, making decisions, monitoring their implementation, evaluating the results.

Introducing AfroGrid, a unified framework for environmental conflict research in Africa

In this study, we present Afro-Grid: an integrated, disaggregated 0.5-degree grid-month dataset on conflict, environmental stress, and socioeconomic features in Africa covering 1989–2020, intended to propel research on these issues forward. Afro-Grid offers several important extensions for researchers and policymakers, including: (i) standardizing (using established methods) data sources on conflict, environmental stress, and socio economic factors across spatial and temporal scales; (ii) combining these data into a single, openly-available file, maximizing the accessibility of these data for researchers and policymakers regardless of their software background; and (iii) including NDVI and dual-series harmonized night lights series that have traditionally not been accessible to researchers without advanced computational expertise. Using a series of comparative regressions at the grid-month and grid-year levels, combined with reporting descriptive statistics and visualizations, we illustrate that this temporally and geographically disaggregated dataset provides valuable extensions for research related to the climate-conflict nexus and the role of socioeconomic features in shaping conflict trends, as well as for research and data-driven policy on development and conflict.

Comparison of illegal logging crimes and penalties in forest laws in some selected countries

Illegal logging, one of the crimes that damage the forests most, may cost human life as well as tax losses in the world. Only even with commercial concerns, 908 people were killed in 35 countries between 2002 and 2013 due to environmental conflicts. However, the absence of comprehensive international legal norms on forest crimes indicates that domestic law is primarily responsible for determining the nature, scope and consequences of these crimes. In this study, Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are among the top countries that suffer the most from forest crimes, and Türkiye, which experienced a significant increase in forest crimes after 2015, were examined in terms of illegal logging crime, forest law and the fine balances related to this crime. It is aimed to discover if there is a relationship between punishment/fine and the number of crimes.

European Green Deal necropolitics: Exploring ‘green’ energy transition, degrowth & infrastructural colonization

This article critically examines the GND (Green New Deal) platform by exploring the reality of energy development under the European Green Deal (EGD). Taking a special interest in degrowth positions on energy development, the article argues that the European Green Deal is an exercise in necropolitics; intensifying market relationships, extraction, and infrastructural colonization. The article proceeds by reviewing and discussing recent environmental justice and degrowth positions on energy infrastructural development. The methodology outlines desk-based research on resource extraction as well as on the European energy markets. This accompanies multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, charting environmental conflicts along a 400kv high-tension power line. This line goes across France, Catalonia and Southern Spain, stretching into Morocco and occupied Western Sahara. Unconventional research techniques, such as hitchhiking, enabled mobility and expanding the informal interview pool. Outlining the objectives of the EGD, the next section examines three aspects of its necropolitics. First, necropolitical economy reveals the reality of energy market liberalization under the EGD. Second, necropolitical extraction examines the expansion of mining and mineral processing, which are necessary for the EGD and ‘mainstream’ GNDs. Third, necropolitical operation reveal the reality of ‘a rapid rollout of renewable energy deployment’ by examining infrastructure conflicts along a 400kv power line between France and Spain. The process of infrastructural colonization is detailed, which also introduces different land defender perspectives on degrowth. Affirming the argument that the EGD is an exercise in necropolitics, the conclusion discusses important ways to expand degrowth, energy ecologies and real energy transition.

КОНФЛІКТНІСТЬ У ВЗАЄМОДІЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ І ПРИРОДИ ТА РОЛЬ АГРОЕКОЛОГІЇ ЯК ВАЖЛИВОГО СПОСОБУ ЇЇ УПЕРЕДЖЕННЯ

Розкрито сутність антагонізму взаємовідносин між суб’єктами і об’єктами людської діяльності, що виникають у системі "людина –– суспільство –– економіка –– природа", та їх переростання в соціально-екологічні конфлікти. Останні характеризуються такими відносинами між ними, за яких кожна із сторін відображає протилежну позицію по відношенню до впливу економіки на екологію, і навпаки. Обґрунтовано місце і роль у загостренні економіко-екологічних конфліктів концепції економічного зростання, яке забезпечується випереджальним нарощуванням масштабів та інтенсивності споживання продуктивної сили природного ресурсу. Викладено головні принципи концепції сталого розвитку, основою якого є паритетність відносин між людиною, економікою і природою, що нейтралізує виникнення економіко-екологічних конфліктів.Виокремлено поетапність наростання екодеструктивного впливу економіки на природні ресурси сільського господарства –– основної галузі життєзабезпечення суспільства, охарактеризовано кожний етап. Доведено, що неузгодженість нарощування валового виробництва сільськогосподарської продукції в Україні з вимогами сталого (економіко-соціально-екологічно збалансованого) розвитку галузі досягла рівня антропогенного навантаження на природний сільськогосподарський ресурс, який наближається до граничної лінії, за якою починаються і стають загрозливими для виробництва та життя людей кризові зміни в природних, насамперед земельних, ресурсах,Обґрунтовано місце агроекології в переході до економіко-соціально-екологічно збалансованого розвитку, охарактеризовано її сутність як галузі науки та основні принципи. Визначено відмінності між індустріально-інтенсивним і агроекологічним сільським господарством. Розкрито роль останнього в збереженні та нарощуванні продуктивної сили сільськогосподарських угідь у довгостроковому періоді, адаптації галузі до змін клімату і сприяння їх пом'якшенню, покращенні харчування людей, скороченні масштабів безробіття і бідності в сільських районах. Сформульовано на основі документів ООН і Європейського Союзу рекомендації щодо вжиття заходів з імплементації наукових розробок і передових практик переходу від індустріально-інтенсивного екологоруйнівного до сталого агроекологічного виробництва в аграрну політику України.

Environmental conflicts and cultural misunderstandings in a Buenos Aires wetland settlement

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the politics of reclaiming the commons and resisting extractivism, drawing on a case of environmental conflict and ontological equivocations in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. On the south of the City of Buenos Aires, the Techint Group plans to build a real estate project by promising progress and development for an area affected by numerous environmental problems. This project spurred social mobilizations led by neighbors and local organizations, who denounced the environmental and housing impacts. Drawing on an anthropological approach, I investigate what happens when a consensus cannot be reached regarding the solution to — or even the very nature of — an environmental “problem.” Finally, I reflect on the need for a new cosmopolitics that can transcend the cultural misunderstandings that arise from the fact that “the various collectives that populate the world do not really understand the fundamental questions that engage other collectives” (Descola 2012).

Green Criminological Dialogues: Voices from Asia.

Many different languages and disciplines are involved in Asian research on environmental conflicts. Linguistic diversity combined with the varied economic, legal, political and social contexts of the Asian continent gives birth to myriad debates about environmental crime and harm. Borders between disciplines are blurred and take different shapes depending on the linguistic and academic contexts. As a result of this situation, the many resources, knowledge and debates developed in various ‘bubbles’ hardly cross disciplinary and linguistic borders. With this special issue, we hope to contribute to unlocking doors and building bridges between the myriad Asian knowledge traditions about environmental conflict, crime and harm. Also, we aim to open the door for readers (be they scholars or practitioners) to engage with the debates and collaborate in addressing instances of environmental degradation in Asia. Finally, we want to remove the obstacles that separate the multi-disciplinary Asian scholars working on environmental crime from the green criminologists around the world.

Use of alternative dispute resolution on enviromental area

This article analyzes the situation facing Mexico, as a result of environmental conflicts, which according to research and records of the federal government have been increasing and today total between 500 and 800, most of them latent or in the process of escalation. It is necessary that, in the face of this phenomenon, greater use be made of the Alternative Dispute Resolution already recognized as a human right by the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, as a peaceful and extrajudicial means of access to justice, and that the pertinent adjustments be made so that the agreements reached have binding effects.
 The problem faced in the state of Tabasco, located in the southeast region of the country, hard hit by the exploitation of hydrocarbons, extensive cattle ranching and deforestation, whose environmental effects have generated conflicts in recent years that do not find the proper solution, due to cultural, social, political, and administrative factors, is presented in a particular way to the detriment of the well-being of the people concerned.

Strategies and challenges of sustainable development in Eurasia

ABSTRACT While supporting the values and goals of sustainable development at the international level, states might employ very different strategies at the national level. The goal of this Forward and of special issue is twofold. First, it aims to advance our understanding of different strategies, paying special attention to China and Russia at global, national, and sub-national levels. Thus, analysis of their strategies across different levels presents a more rounded picture. The second goal is to identify at least a few of the most pressing challenges of sustainable development across Eurasia (e.g. nuclear supply chain, emissions, environmental conflict management) and to attempt to understand their triggers, outcomes, and potential solutions. This Forward aspires to develop a better dialogue across different sets of literature in area studies, environmental politics, and international relations to improve our understanding of obstacles to sustainable development in Eurasia.

A political ecology of aviation and development: an analysis of relations of power and justice in the (de)construction of Nepal's Second International Airport

In this article, we investigate socio-ecological conflicts surrounding the proposed Second International Airport project near Nijgadh, a town in the southern Terai region of Nepal. Praised by the Nepali government as a gamechanger for Nepal's economy, it has come under scrutiny by environmental activists after plans emerged for extensive clearing of the densely forested project site. While public and political debates have focused on the environmental impacts of the project, the area is also home to nearly 8,000 people, most of whom have no formal land rights and belong to Janajati groups, who face displacement. The apparent lack of attention to the project's consequences for local communities raises questions about the safeguarding of their interests. Drawing on justice theories and political ecology, we conducted a case study to investigate the residents' struggle for justice, recognition, and visibility amidst a strong dichotomy of mainstream developmentalist and conservationist discourses. During two months of fieldwork in Nepal, we gathered empirical evidence, including observations, interviews, and project documentation. Our findings suggest that the misrecognition of local communities, particularly in Tangiya Basti, began long before the airport project, and is intertwined with distributive and procedural injustices, reinforced by power asymmetries of various kinds. Overall, we argue that while the airport project is often framed as an environmental conflict, it is also a conflict over claims to social justice and livelihood security.

The role of working-class communities and the slow violence of toxic pollution in environmental health conflicts: A global perspective

Analysing a sample of 3,033 environmental conflicts around the globe, we compared conflicts reporting no human health impacts to those reporting health impacts linked to toxic pollution. Our study suggests four main findings. First, health impacts are a key concern for working-class communities. Second, the long-term effects of toxic pollution undermine communities' ability to act preventively. Third, industrial activities, waste management and nuclear energy conflicts are more likely to report health impacts than other economic activities. Last, mobilising groups are reluctant to consider the closure of a polluting project a successful outcome because of the persistence of toxic pollution across time. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of what we have termed ‘environmental health conflicts’ (EHCs).

Extreme citizens science for climate justice: linking pixel to people for mapping gas flaring in Amazon rainforest

In the Ecuadorian Amazon—one of Earth’s last high-biodiversity wilderness areas and home to uncontacted indigenous populations—50 years of widespread oil development is jeopardizing biodiversity and feeding environmental conflicts. In 2019, a campaign to eliminate oil-related gas flaring, led by Amazonian communities impacted by fossil fuel production, resulted in an injunction against the Ecuadoran Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment and Water. On 26 January 2021 the Court of Nueva Loja issued a historical order to ban gas flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The present citizen science project played an important role in this process, enabling the production of independent spatial information through participatory mapping with indigenous and farmer communities. Globally, lack of independent information about oil activities has led to the monitoring of gas flaring by satellite imagery, achieving remarkable results. However, apart from institutional and remotely sensed data, reliable spatial information on gas flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon is not available. Therefore, we adopted the community-based participatory action research approach to develop a participatory GIS process, aiming both to provide reliable data and to support social campaigns for environmental and climate justice. This work presents the first participatory mapping initiative of gas flaring at a regional scale, carried out completely through open source data and software. Having identified 295 previously unmapped gas flaring sites through participatory mapping, we highlight that the extent of gas flaring activities is well beyond the official data provided by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Nightfire annual datasets, which map only 24% and 33% of the sites, respectively. Seventy five of the detected sites were in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. Moreover, 39 of the identified sites were venting instead of flaring, a phenomenon never before documented in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This study demonstrates that, because official datasets and satellite imagery underestimate the extent of gas flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon, community-based mapping offers a promising alternative for producing trusted, community-based scientific data. This community-produced data can support campaigns for legal recognition of human rights and environmental justice in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Finally, this study shows how local environmental conflicts can foster policy transformations that promote climate justice.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICT AND UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP) REPORT: AN APPRAISAL OF THE CLEAN-UP IN OGONI

The people of Ogoni over the years have been at logger heads with the federal government of Nigeria and the Multinational Company, Shell over the long period of oil exploration and exploitation on their land without any noticeable development, instead the environment was polluted. This is revealed by UNEP and shows that the Ogoni people have suffered grave consequences owing to the oil pollution of their land. Upon the recommendations of UNEP, the Federal Government agreed to clean up Ogoniland so as to save the people’s lives and their environment. Against, this background, this study examined the environmental conflict and UNEP report in Ogoniland, with a view to appraising the clean-up projects in Ogoni. The study was exploratory and descriptive in design, thus the study relied on content analysis. Max Weber’s strand of conflict theory was adopted as theoretical guide. Four objectives and corresponding four research questions were posed. In proffering answers to the questions, it was revealed that the several years of oil pollution in Ogoni breeds environmental pollution and grave dangers for the Ogonis. Thus, the clean-up was meant to clean the environment and restore the economy, wealth and health of the Ogonis. However, the present state of the clean-up is slow, delayed and reveals a lackadaisical attitude of the government which implies that the Ogonis are continuously affected by the hazard on daily basis.

Preference prediction analysis based on graph model for environmental governance conflict

<abstract> <p>A mathematical model for decision maker's preference prediction in environmental governance conflict is established based on the graph model for conflict resolution. The rapid economic development in many countries, over the past decades, has caused serious environmental pollution. Sewage companies are the main source of contamination since they are always wavering on the issue of environmental governance because of their profit-seeking nature. Environmental management departments cannot grasp the offending company preferences accurately. The problem of how to obtain decision maker's preference in environmental governance conflict is studied in this paper. The mathematical model established in this paper can obtain a preference set of one decision maker on the promise that the ideal conflict outcome and preference of the other decision makers are known. Then, preference value distribution information entropy is introduced to mine the preference information contained in the preference set, which means that it is possible to get the preference information of conflict opponent at their own ideal conflict outcome. All of these preference sets provide the possibility to choose the appropriate coping strategies and lead the conflict to the direction that some decision makers want. Finally, the effectiveness and superiority of the preference prediction analysis method is verified through a case study of "Chromium Pollution in Qujing County" which took place in China. The preference prediction analysis method in this paper can provide decision making support for the decision makers in environmental governance from strategic level.</p> </abstract>

Environment management policy implementation for sustainable industrial production under power asymmetry in the graph model

In the wake of the Paris agreement, adaptation and mitigation efforts are underway to combat climate change. Despite the promulgation of environmental policies, rules and regulations, and the setting of local environmental regulations, the objectives of cleaner industrial production, and sustainable environmental management are still far from the targets set. However, the stringent implementation of environmental policy is equally important as the decree of environmental laws. Environmental conflicts between the government and industry may source from lenient or less strict policy implementation and/or weak administrative capacity of the governments’ agencies. The use of the government's inherent power can play a pivotal role in determining the preferences of the industry regarding environmental sustainability. This study proposes a power-asymmetric based negotiation strategy by incorporating formal mathematical formulations of the power-asymmetric preferences and stability concepts in the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR). A case study of government-industry conflict is resolved to confirm the procedure and application of the proposed methodology. The analysis shows how the decision-maker – industry adjusts its preference when the government imposes strict environmental policy. It provides valuable strategic insights that use of government's inherent power in the stringent implementation of environmental policies is indispensable for cleaner industrial production and sustainable environmental management.

The Unexpected Consequences of Litigation in Environmental Conflicts

The Unexpected Consequences of Litigation in Environmental Conflicts

The Environmental Conflict: Risks and Consequences By the Case Study of Vladikavkaz)

The Environmental Conflict: Risks and Consequences By the Case Study of Vladikavkaz)